Memeorandum

February 07, 2018

Dream On

Senate leadership has a budget deal with something for everyone except the deficit hawks and the Dreamers. McConnell has promised a separate Senate debate on immigration, although over in the House Ryan has not.

Curb Dive was fired from the WATERGATE COMMITTEE for DISHONESTY.
This bitch is the definition of DISHONESTY.
Her husband banged every breathing female, rather than have to RUT with WEBB HUBBELS' shrew.

This pig has claimed her ENTIRE CAREER....ca---REAR has been dedicated to WYMYN, CHYDRYN BABIES and or SUMPTING.
lying pig

Lurker Susie. THEY. Can think whatever they like. THEY. The THEY, we are alluding too, are SWAMP SCUM. THEY, cheat on their HUSBANDS and THEIR wives. Yet THEY are the WHITE hats. THEY, have ZERO scrutiny vis a vis THEIR LIVES and THEIR CAREERS. IOW. "THEIR" Shit doesn't stink. "THEY" Calculate "THEIR" retirement date, whilst still in THEIR forties, as they fuck THEIR colleague. "THEY" Spew "THEIR" dislike/hate for DONALD TRUMP, as they bang someone, NOT THEIR SPOUSE, WHOM THEY SWORE to BE TRUE TO.

All of that attitude began with Bill Clinton. I remember it well, because my son had just graduated and my daughter was in grade school, and it was embarrassing to have to talk about Monica. And it only got worse.

So now, the kids that grew up with that stuff are immune to a lot of what we would consider scandalous.

Ariel is fascinated with birds. She stares at my Basil Ede's on the walls in the living room, and if you get close enough when you are holding her, she tries to reach out and touch them. We got out our Field Guide to NA birds, and she started turning the pages to see all the birds.

Supposed to rain all weekend. I was going to take her to the zoo to see the birds, but we're now going to the Ga Aquarium instead. They have penguins and puffins so close enough.

I once spent four hours in the rookery at Marineland in St Augustine with her mom who was also big into birds when she was about 6. She knew every state bird and could relate all sorts of facts about them when she was 6.

More Doubts About Mr. Steele
Including an appearance by none other than Sidney Blumenthal.

By The Editorial Board
Feb. 7, 2018 7:09 p.m. ET
376 COMMENTS
The case of the FBI and Christopher Steele gets curiouser and curiouser. In the latest news, GOP Senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham late Tuesday released a less redacted version of their criminal referral letter to the Justice Department concerning Mr. Steele, who wrote the now famous dossier alleging Russian collusion with Donald Trump. The letter supports the recent House Intelligence Committee claims of surveillance abuse and offers new evidence that the Clinton campaign may have been more involved than previously known.

Democrats claim the House Intel memo distorts the FBI’s actions in obtaining in October 2016 an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor former Trump aide Carter Page. But the Grassley-Graham referral makes public for the first time actual text from the FBI’s FISA application, as well as classified testimony the FBI gave the Senate Judiciary Committee about the dossier and FISA application.

In particular, the referral rebuts the Democratic claim that the FBI told the FISA court about the partisan nature of the Steele dossier. “The FBI noted to a vaguely limited extent the political origins of the dossier,” says the letter. And “the FBI stated that the dossier information was compiled pursuant to the direction of a law firm who had hired an ‘identified U.S. person’—now known as Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS,” the firm that hired Mr. Steele.

But, adds the referral letter, “the application failed to disclose that the identities of Mr. Simpson’s ultimate clients were the Clinton campaign and the DNC [Democratic National Committee].” That’s not being honest with the judges who sign off on an eavesdrop order.

The referral also confirms the House memo’s finding that the FBI “relied heavily” on Mr. Steele’s dossier claims, as well as on a Yahoo News article for which Mr. Steele was the main source. And the letter notes that “the application appears to contain no additional information corroborating the dossier allegations against Mr. Page.”

James Comey, who was running the FBI at the time of the FISA fiasco, told the Senate Judiciary Committee as much in March 2017. According to the referral, when Mr. Comey was asked “why the FBI relied on the dossier in the FISA applications absent meaningful corroboration,” he said this was “because Mr. Steele himself was considered reliable due to his past work with the Bureau.”

In other words, the FBI rested its wiretap application on the credibility of a source who was working at the direction of the Clinton campaign. The FBI also seems to have closed its eyes to evidence that Mr. Steele wasn’t honest. The FBI acknowledges that it told Mr. Steele not to speak to the media about the dossier. Yet in September 2016 the ex-British spy briefed reporters about the FBI’s investigation and the dossier, which resulted in the Yahoo News article. The Clinton campaign cited that article on TV and social media to attack the Trump campaign. This was about a month prior to the FBI filing its first FISA application.

Yet the FBI’s October application told the FISA court that, “The FBI does not believe that [Steele] directly provided this information to the press.” Whether Mr. Steele lied to the FBI, or the FBI was too incompetent to verify that he was the source of the Yahoo News story, the result is the same: The FISA court issued a surveillance order on the basis of false information about the credibility of the FBI’s main source.

Even after Mr. Steele said under oath in court filings in London that he had briefed Yahoo News, and this fact was reported by U.S. media in April 2017, the FBI didn’t tell the FISA court in any subsequent wiretap application.

The Grassley-Graham referral also drops the stunning news that Mr. Steele received at least some of the information for his dossier from the Obama State Department. The letter redacts the names involved. But the press is now reporting, and our sources confirm, that one of the generators of this information was none other than Sidney Blumenthal. GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy, who has seen the documents, told Fox News “that would be really warm” when asked if Mr. Blumenthal is one of the redacted names.

Mr. Blumenthal has declined comment to several media outlets. But our readers will recall that he is a long-time Hillary Clinton operative whom President Obama barred from an official role at State but was later discovered to have sent her policy and political advice via her private email server. This revelation raises questions about the degree to which the Clinton team was involved in the Steele-Fusion effort from the beginning.

Some of our media friends are so invested in the Steele dossier, or in protecting their Fusion pals, or in Donald Trump’s perfidy, that they want to ignore all this. But journalists ought to tell the complete story.

The best way to learn what’s true and false in the Russian influence story is radical transparency, and the Trump Administration should declassify all four FISA applications on Mr. Page and all of the documents behind them. Meanwhile, thanks to the two Senators for helping get closer to the truth.

For those of you not familiar w Twitter formatting---the top Tweet is a comment IRT the lower one, which the person making the top Tweet choses to "retweet" (feature/share) :

Imperator_Rex‏
@Imperator_Rex3
Following Following @Imperator_Rex3
More Imperator_Rex Retweeted Eric Geller
HUGE. This was the DOJ guy who interviewed Clinton (Mills & Abedin as well) with none other than FBI super(corrupt) agent Strzok.

'He cited personal reasons.'

I bet he did.

I think we can all see where these ill winds are blowing & it's not in Trump's direction👇

Eric Geller‏Verified account
@ericgeller
Follow Follow @ericgeller
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David Laufman, chief of the counterintelligence section at the Justice Department's National Security Division, has stepped down, per @nakashimae. He played a leading role in the Clinton email server and Russian hacking investigations.

Will be heading over shortly to make remarks at The National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. Great religious and political leaders, and many friends, including T.V. producer Mark Burnett of our wonderful 14 season Apprentice triumph, will be there. Looking forward to seeing all!

Anybody know the name of that insane leftist who was just on Martha's show?
He looks like a James Carville relative, but sounds east coast.
I need to send him a tweet.
Posted by: anonamom | February 07, 2018 at 07:43 PM

anonamom - Was it this guy . . .

'The Insane Shaved Head, Zac Petkanas'

He is bragging on Twitter that he screamed at Jason Chaffetz yesterday evening.

Yes,it's Zac-- a friend who records the show caught his name, so I was able to share my assessment of his totally unhinged---and completely ineffective--appearance last night.

I do not know how Jason Chaffetz managed to not deck him, as he sat there screaming--really, screaming, like that adolescent girl at Yale we saw how many times yelling at her college dean who told them Halloween costumes shouldn't be regulated--that Chaffetz "hates Law enforcement."

Total Beta guy, btw.

I watched four hours of those liars last night---Nunes is right--they are over the target. They are more than scared, and they've got nothing.
Spread the word. Let your Congress critter know you are counting on them getting to the truth.

Aside from the small detail that Strzok and Page's texts demonstrate an immense perversion of criminal justice and law enforcement, they also reveal two people positively made for each other.
A larger pair of whining, negative, hyper-critical, conceited a-holes it would be hard to imagine. They even manage to be conceited and self loathing at the same time. Other than the sainted Obamas, who they weirdly idealize, it seems like nobody is up to their high falutin standards.

I hope it's not wrong of me to wish they really were having an affair and end up together because I've got a feeling their other significant others would be a lot better off without either one.

Keep updates coming, Amom. I have a 22 year old step daughter on the edge of being diagnosed as diabetic. Doctor, Mom and I trying to get through to her how serious she needs to be. Not only is it scary for a kid to contemplate but once the doctor pulls the trigger and diagnoses you as a diabetic there are repercussions.

Absolutely, MM. at some point, if the good people that were told make up the majority of FBI agents turn a blind eye to deranged, dangerous people like Page et al, you really can’t consider any of them good.

Its like the colleagues of the Minnesota cop who killed the Australian woman. If they all knew he was unfit to be set loose on the streets with Gun and badge, but they all just looked the other way and shut up about it, then they’re not fit to be cops either.

peter--as an additional response to your mindfulness inquiry, this was in my morning feed where Sir Ken Robinson (who was brought to US by the Getty Foundation and whose expertise is actually arts ed when you pry) calls for education to be transformed by trageting 'private consciousness'. Mindfulness is a tool to accomplish that.

In Janet's 6:56, there is a little segment that proves beyond all doubt how unhinged Nancy Pelosi has become. To use your grandchild as a political prop is more than bizarre. Now, she wants us to progress from transgender reassignment to transethinicity reassignment.

Before the Prayer Breakfast, Pres Trump has a meeting with Pres Morales of Guatemala. And later back at the WH, @POTUS has meetings today with DefSec Mattis; @SecShulkin, and former SecState Kissinger. All closed to press coverage.

An old Clarice's Pieces (2015) that is SO spot on for events unfolding now....

"These days you simply must pick which events are most significant, read accounts from various sources and bring to bear the same critical eye you bring to your other daily affairs. If you think you can learn something of value of the day’s happenings by passively consuming TV news accounts you are delusional."

Clint Eastwood is 87 yo? Very reassuring at my age. The 3 childhood friends/heroes met as young boys at a Christian school in CA, which I hope the movie depicts. Reportedly, other passengers/train personnel on the train at the time play themselves in the movie too.

You'd think that the mobbed up witch's grandkid would attend some tony school where they don't promulgate that garbage, although public schools are so high on the lib hierarchy they might just consider sending their spawn there a really late term abortion.

Typical, socialist, secular Europe that "The 15:17 to Paris" is being panned, suffering undeserved criticism because it spends too much time telling the viewer about how the 3 friends were raised and their commonality. Can't have that kind of motherhood, apple pie and Old Glory.

A bunch of wusses and through marriage I am related to a few of them. Damn, I am as interested in that aspect of their values and how they got them, as well as their heroism. Or, as Silent Cal Coolidge once said:

Dear American People: No, there's nothing you can do to stop us from spending oceans of money in hastily-written bills nobody reads. We're never going to do a real honest-to-God "budget" again. Love, Your Bipartisan Political Elite

.@CNN has truly gone bonkers. Everything with @realDonaldTrump is Russia related. Now they're running a story abut how the Russian delegation to the #NationalPrayerBreakfast is TRIPLE what it normally is! Oh no! Collusion at the breakfast? Are they serving Borshch? Oy-gevalt

I consider myself a fiscal conservative but have no problem with the Senate-brokered deal because the real benefit of the agreement is that we get to face the November by-election knowing that growing a fiscally conservative filibuster-proof majority matters.

In the meantime, we can establish better regulation over spending programs, and perhaps save more in other ways.

The Obama apologists are claiming that of course "potus wants to know everything," because he was getting briefed about Russia's interference in the election. Nothing to do with the Hillary e-mail investigation. The problem with that theory is that if you look at the texts that day and the surrounding days, their pretty clearly focused on the e-mail issue. For example, they talk about the "breaking on NYT.com" story on the emails. There's no mention that I saw of Russia and the election.

They need to be asked under oath what those "talking points" were for Comey.

fdcol...well open your borders to floods from the rest of the world who bring with them whatever baggage was in their former countries then sit back and watch how that dilutes what you started with. Add in a not insignificant percentage of original members who are true globalist one worlders who hate hate hate what this country has been about since its founding and allow them to work their magic from within...and voila.

Jordan, a former Freedom Caucus chairman, said earlier in the day that he was disappointed by the tentative deal and expressed surprise that Ryan — who has staked his political career on being a fiscal hawk — would go along with the proposal.

“It’s a terrible deal,” Jordan said. “I never thought Speaker Ryan would be supportive of this … I just never thought the Speaker would go here with these high numbers.”

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Brooks slammed the deal as a “debt junkie’s dream.”

“I don’t know if we have enough votes amongst the members to stop this legislation,” the outspoken Alabama conservative said. “All I know is that unfortunately those who vote for this bill are betraying our country’s future and they are selling out our kids and our grandkids.

“I am baffled why the Republican Party has turned into such a big spending party. It is one thing to spend money; it is another thing to spend money you don’t have,” Brooks went on. “No American family can operate that way; no American business can operate that way, and it is folly to believe that the United States of America can operate that way.”

Some defense hawks were also upset over the proposal because of the inclusion of the debt ceiling.

Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was prepared to swallow the spending boost for domestic programs in exchange for the military bulk-up, but he was thrown off by raising the debt ceiling as part of the deal.

He declined to take a position on the package until he sees the final details, however.

Part of Ryan’s pitch to the conference, according to lawmakers who attended, was that the budget deal not only delivers a long sought-after spending boost for the military, but it also clears the way for an honest debate over immigration if lawmakers don’t have the debt ceiling, the threat of government shutdown and other unresolved issues looming over their heads.

The disappointing thing about the budget deal is Trump had maneuvered the Dems into a weak, untenable position from which he could have extracted largely what he wanted from them.
After that shutdown disaster they were in a box but for some reason he let them out without taking his pound of flesh.
For pretty much the first time Trump has underperformed expectations and given a bit of credence to the "he's not really a conservative" claim.
of course congress did the deal but he must have greenlighted it beforehand and has praised it subsequently.
.

Now I'm even more disappointed in it learning the debt ceiling stick was given away.
Isn't that just like the stupid party?
You finally turn the tables on the Dems re the shutdown game so that you can place the blame squarely on them and so immediately give the stick away rather than put half a dozen knots on Schumer and Pelosu's heads with it.
Criminy.

In the press conference yesterday Sanders was asked if the President was ready to sign whatever was coming out of the Senate. She said that they need to see a final bill but they did like the direction that the Senate was heading. I know that she mentioned that the Senate is getting closer to regular order WRT budgets instead of CRs.

Was there a statement from Trump that praised the Senate's bill to a greater extreme than her response?

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
15h
The Budget Agreement today is so important for our great Military. It ends the dangerous sequester and gives Secretary Mattis what he needs to keep America Great. Republicans and Democrats must support our troops and support this Bill!

Typical, socialist, secular Europe that "The 15:17 to Paris" is being panned, suffering undeserved criticism because it spends too much time telling the viewer about how the 3 friends were raised and their commonality.

But we've all got to listen to every sob upbringing story from politicians & athletes.
Can't have positive God & family stories.

I won't link it but Jonah Goldberg's latest about the Cult of Trump reveals a man without either perception or wisdom.
He is a guy who thinks, apparently seriously, that decorum and behavior not only matter far more than they do; he thinks those lacking either in quantities he deems acceptable are not worthy of support even if they accomplish every goal he otherwise advocates. Worse, he thinks decorum and behavior are paramount regardless of the situation. In his world one must be equally diffident and respectful to a party of Scoop Jackson Dems as to a party of our present day New Left radicals intent on wrecking the country.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
He's the dork on the Titanic who tells his wife not to worry and finish her sorbet after the ship convulses on the iceberg.